Haleyville 9-1-1 Festival 2010

As you enter into Haleyville there is a sign on City Hall that reads home of "9-1-1". Each year there is a 9-1-1 Festival held in downtown Haleyville to commerate the place where it all began and since Thad and I met I have loved that Haleyville, his hometown, is the home of "9-1-1". This year we made a special effort to be there for the festival. There were vendors of all kind, rides, music and even a BBQ contest. I loved it and there was a fun energy there. As we strolled through the festival Thad kept running into long lost classmates, friends and family. It was a great time and we will definitly be at next years 9-1-1Festival 2011!

Here is what Wikepedia says about it.....

"Bob Gallagher, then-president of the independent Alabama Telephone Company (ATC), read an article in the Wall Street Journal from January 15, 1968, which reported the AT&T 9-1-1 announcement. Gallagher’s competitive spirit motivated him to beat AT&T to the punch by being the first to implement the 9-1-1 service. In need of a suitable spot within his company's territory to implement 9-1-1, he contacted Robert Fitzgerald, who was Inside State Plant Manager for ATC. Fitzgerald recommended Haleyville, Alabama as the prime site. Gallagher later issued a press release announcing that 9-1-1 service would begin in Haleyville on Feb. 16, 1968. Fitzgerald designed the circuitry, and with the assistance of technicians Jimmy White, Glenn Johnston, Al Bush and Pete Gosa, they quickly completed the central office work and installation.[16] Just 35 days after AT&T's announcement, on February 16, 1968, the first-ever 9-1-1 call was placed by Alabama Speaker of the House Rankin Fite, from Haleyville City Hall, to U.S. Rep. Tom Bevill, at the city's police station. Bevill reportedly answered the phone with "Hello". At the City Hall with Fite was Haleyville mayor James Whitt; at the police station with Bevill were Gallagher and Alabama Public Service Commission director Eugene "Bull" Connor. Fitzgerald was at the ATC central office serving Haleyville, and actually observed the call pass through the switching gear as the mechanical equipment clunked out "9-1-1". The phone used to answer the first 9-1-1 call, a bright red model, is now in a museum in Haleyville, while a duplicate phone is still in use at the police station."

Memorial Day Weekend 2010

Ok so I feel like Thad and I had the best Memorial Day around. We started out with a quick 2 day road trip to Savannah (a surprise trip from Thad) which was so great. Savannah truly was a city filled with history, charm and beauty. Once we returned home we spent Monday at the pool and bbq with some friends, yep it was pretty much a blast. Here are some pics of our adventures......


This is the famous River Street in Savannah that is right along the river....pretty but a tourist trap


We took a picture here because the stairs were so steep and tall


There was this yummy candy shop full of freshly made treats (I heart anything with pecans in them)


I loved this little bridge with the ivy arch-way


In the background is the restaurant Lady and Sons, the main purpose of the trip and they were booked and we never got to eat there


I made Thad stand under the gorgeous moss, so pretty (not Thad, the moss)


Can you imagine taking a ghost tour of Savannah in this car at night? Very cool

We search high and low for the bench that Forrest Gump sat on with his box of chocolates......but found out that the bench was in a museum now but found the park the bench use to be in(this is Thad impersonating Forrest Gump)



We got away from all the tourists and strolled the neighborhoods and fell in love with all the neat old homes


We stumbled upon a gorgeous church and to make it more quaint there was a couple getting married in the park across the street


Ever wonder how peaches or fruit get to us all pretty and shiny? Well on our way home we came across a peach factory and you could take a tour through the factory. I was very impressed and really was fascinated by what a perfect system they have going









Then on Monday we went to the pool by our house and had a lovely time










It was a great Memorial Day Weekend!

Father/Son Campout

This past week was the Father/Son campout. It was held from Friday to Saturday. They stayed on property owned by Boys Scouts of America which is about 20 minutes outside of Demopolis. The boys had a great time. They had cowboy dinners, dutch oven peach cobbler (that Thad made)smores and a camp fire Friday night. On Saturday they had a hardy breakfast, followed by kayaking, doing some service (i.e. mowing some grass, cutting some weeds) and exploring. It was a great time. Here are some pics of their adventures (Thanks Gwen).

Hiker Thad

Recently Thad has rediscovered his love of hiking. Our Saturday routine usually consists of me running and Thad going hiking. Thad gets all suited up for his hikes....wearing boots, a hat and of course he must have a walking stick. So this past Saturday after we had done our hike and run, Thad asked me if I wanted to hike to one of his favorite hiking spots. I agreed and we hiked out to Lake Harris, which is about a ten minute drive from our house. The hike was about 2 miles in and out and it was gorgeous out there, a perfect day for a hike.

There was a pretty little run-off and Thad to ride the run-off down into the little pool, where he then took a swim. We also saw some armadillos or rather were ambushed by two armadillos and Thad ended up killing one of them (long story). In the end we just took in the surroundings and soaked it up. It was great. Here are some pics from our adventures. Enjoy!

My Herb Garden

On Saturday my in-laws came over and helped Thad and I clean up the yard and get some shrubbs and flowers planted, it looked so good. But my favorite addition has been my herb garden that we planted on the back patio. I have wanted one for so long and so my mother in-law and I made it happen. I am so proud of it and have been watering it and loving it since.


This is a picture of my Parsley, Basil and Rosemary.


This is my Sage


And here we have Oregano and Thyme.

I am now a gardener in training. We will see in time if I have a green thumb or a black thumb!